Sapphire tilted her head to the side and wrinkled her nose at the sound of someone named "Cloud." Another unfamiliar face?.. Well, if it was necessary. She glared at Niko for his little comment. Upon arrival at their destination, Niko looked around at the surroundings. He was taken by surprise by how beautiful it was.
"Let's go!" Donald shouted.
Niko nodded and followed Donald to a house. Suddenly he heard a girl call out.
"Hey!" She called. "Are you looking for Cloud?!"
"Yup!" Goofy replied. "Do ya know where he is Yuffie?"
"He's inside the house behind you!" Yuffie replied jumping down from her perch. "You two must be the ones Riku and Cloud want to see. I'm Yuffie!"
"I'm Niko." Niko replied. "This is Sapphire."
Sapphire inclined her head politely ever so slightly in the direction of the girl called Yuffie. "A pleasure," she said softly, eyes wandering to the house behind them. The door opens and a tall man with blonde spiky hair walks out. He wore a black coat with a sleeve missing and a lion sigil on the chest. Looking towards Niko and Sapphire, he sighed and walked to them.
"Good to see you two made it." Cloud said. "My name is Cloud. Riku said that you two are making good progress stopping Xehanort. He said not worry about Simba and the others, he sealed the world when you two vanished. As far as this world is concerned, you're here because I asked Riku to allow me to gauge your skill. No magic, just your swordfighting skill."
With suspicion in her eyes, Sapphire turned her head slightly to look at Niko to gauge his reaction before turning her head back to cloud. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
"So, I suppose you're good with a sword?" she asked, tilting her head upwards slightly.
Cloud draws his signature Buster Blade as quick as lightning.
"This answer your question?" Cloud asked.
Sapphire tilted her head to the side and rolled her eyes ever so slightly, looking unimpressed. "Yeah. Sure," she replied loftily, eyeing up his large weapon. It was impressive, and had a nice shape. Looked like something her father would've made, or would've bought, so her respect for the large sword grew for that reason only.
"Good." Cloud said. "Then let's get started shall we?"
Cloud rushed at Sapphire. Before he could get a stroke in, Niko stepped in front of her and blocked the attack. Quickly counter it, Niko smiled.
"You're pretty fast." Niko said.
"Thanks." Cloud said, smiling.
Sapphire glared at Niko. She could've taken care of herself. She took out her Keyblade and held it firmly in her right head, rolling her shoulders back. She wasn't great with melee weapons, but she'd have to pull something off.
Seeing as this Cloud was good with his weapon, she decided it'd be wise to stick to the defensive, so she took on a proper stance.
"Starting in the defensive?" Cloud asked. "Interesting."
Cloud rushed at Niko and Niko quickly blocked it and jumped out the way. Cloud them turned his attention to Sapphire and rushed at her, swinging his blade rapidly.
Reacting quickly and relying on her reflexes, Sapphire took some steps backwards and raised her Keyblade, the blad Cloud wielded hitting her own and keeping away from herself. She gritted her teeth as she blocked his attack carefully. He was skillful. Niko watched on as Sapphire skillfully blocked Cloud's attack and smiled at Yuffie who was just grinning as if something good was going to occur. Niko didn't like this and he saw why when Cloud backed away and started to glow a light blue and white. Niko's eyes widened as Cloud charged at Sapphire knocking her skyward and slashed at her relentlessly.
"Oh no!" Yuffie exclaimed. "That is Cloud's signature attack, Omnislash! You have to stop him!"
Niko rushed into the attack and dropkicked Cloud sending him sideways. Niko landed on the ground and caught Sapphire as she fell.
"Sapphire!" Niko shouted.
Wasn't he... Wasn't he just supposed to be testing their skills? Why was he trying to kill her?
New, bloody cuts coated her body. A wide, large gash was on her cheek, oozing blood that dripped down the side of her face. Dozens on other cuts covered her chest, shoulders, and arms. There were now rips and holes in her clothing, two exposing her stomach and dozens ripping up her pants. Under each cut of cloth was another slash. Blood was running quickly, covering her skin and making it hard to tell if she had red skin or not. She was a bloody mess.
The attack took toll in many ways other than scratching up her body. She felt... Weak. Tired. Like she couldn't move. Her Keyblade had fallen from her hand and had skidded some ways away. She gritted her teeth in Niko's arms, looks of pure pain flashing onto her face as she tried to move. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, seeing as the breath had been knocked out of her, and it appeared to seem like she was just trying to breathe, and to live. After her one unsuccessful attempt at moving, she went very limp in Niko's arms, squeezing her eyes tightly and grinding her teeth together in the pain she was feeling, still breathing quick and heavily.
"Niko?" Sapphire whispered, opening her eyes to look at him. His figure was blurry. Was she dying? She couldn't tell. Her body just felt like fire, like pain. She shut her eyes again, head falling backwards as if it were too hard to keep it up straight. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
Niko put Sapphire down as Donald ran up to heal Sapphire. Niko looked towards Cloud, eyes now yellow. Niko began to glow black and is completely eclipsed in his darknes. He rushed towards Cloud and slashed at him relentlessly and knocked him away. He roared but felt a pulse of energy that made him stop.
"Niko! Stop!" A voice called out. Niko looked to a face. "You have to stop!"
"Mother?" Niko growled.
"Please stop! Sapphire is okay!" Tikal said. "Please stop...I'm begging you."
Niko began to revert back to normal and Cloud walked up to him. He shook his head.
"Niko! You almost lost it!" Donald said.
"I did?" Niko asked.
"You looked like a demon!" Goofy replied.
"Oh." Niko said.
As Sapphire was healed, her breathing was still heavy, and her chest continued to rise and fall rapidly. Her bleeding stopped, but her skin was still covered in the red substance. Her eyes fluttered open and she found most of her cuts gone, though a few remained, including the one on her cheek. She sat up slowly with effort, wincing, look of pain still on her face. She saw Niko just as he went from a demon back to himself. Her eyes were wide.
"Niko?" she called out weekly in between breaths. Her mind was fuzzy and she felt fatigued and weak.
Niko looked to Sapphire and backed away a little. He was afraid of what he had done, but even more afraid of the judgement Sapphire would pass onto him. Cloud wrenches the Keyblade out of his hands and looked to him.
"You really don't need this." Cloud said. "You're dangerous to yourself and to Sapphire. She was harmed because you didn't stop me quick enough. Donald would make a better Keyblade wielder than you! You may have demonic power, but still have no control over when and how you use it. You don't deserve this Keyblade. If you did, Sapphire would only have a few cuts. Instead she was near death."
Niko clenched his fist as the Keyblade leaves Cloud's hand and reappeared back in his own.
"You're the one who used that attach!" Yuffie piped up in Niko's defense. "You didn't have to do that! He wouldn't have snapped if you hadn't done that!"
Sapphire gritted her teeth, trying to stand. Shouldn't she have some sort of say in this? Slowly but surely she climbed to her feet, grabbing her nearby Keyblade and using it to support her weakened body.
"I shouldn't have to rely on Niko to save me like some damsel in distress," she growled, trying to calm her breathing. "Because of that, you can't blame Niko for 'not stopping you quick enough.'" She closed her eyes as she breathed, and when she opened them, There was an angry fire in her eyes.
"Yuffie's right, anyways. You don't test someone's abilities by trying to kill one and provoking the other."
